Life Without a Camera

To any and everybody who left comments or thought good thoughts for me or my family, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Losing my brother has been the hardest obstacle I've encountered in my life but I've been so fortunate to be surrounded by people who truly care for me.

From left to right: Rachel (holding Daisy), Me, Tony (with Zoey), and Gina

On June 26th, we (my folks, my sisters, and I) started the drive to Anderson, California, where Tony had been living. The 2.5 day trip was difficult and long. I knit some of the sock I had been working on since May but really couldn't do much without getting too carsick. We stayed at Tony's house for a few days, sorting through his belongings and calling friends to alert them of his death. We're planning to to make a couple of quilts out of his t-shirts. My dad stayed behind in Cali for another week after my mom, my sisters, and I got back to Colorado on July 4th.

A big chunk of July was spent at my family's house in Pueblo. We celebrated my mom's fifty-second birthday with a lovely homecooked meal. Tony's funeral was on July 22nd; I gave the eulogy. Before I came back to Greeley last week, I got together with some of the old knitting group which was just a blast.

Oh and why are there no pictures of any of these escapades? Well, for some reason my camera has started taking horrible pictures! They are streaky, miscolored, and blurry. I haven't been doing loads of crafty stuff lately though, so you're not missing out on much.

Classes start on August 24th and I'm kind of excited for the new school year. I'll be taking 15 credit hours (five classes), so who knows how much I'll be able to update this blog but I'm hoping to keep up with it.

Lots of love to all,
Lulu

R.I.P. Dear Brother

Well, so much for a short hiatus...

On Tuesday, my brother Tony died from his heart condition. He collapsed on his kitchen floor and died instantly from what I've been told. I didn't find out until Thursday afternoon. My family and I will be driving out to California to take care of his belongings, make sure his dogs have good homes, etc, etc.

I miss my brother so much already. May he always rest in peace.

R.I.P. Anthony Paul Gratton
May 5, 1976 - June 23, 2009

Please Enjoy This Brief Intermission

I'm taking another pseudo-hiatus from blogging even though I REALLY don't want to this time. Elphie, my poor laptop, is currently in the hands of the computer wizards at Bear Logic (the computer store/repair shop on campus) and I am stuck with either using desktops at the library or the super slow and frustrating loaner laptop until mine is fixed. And that won't be until probably Monday... So I guess what I'm saying friends is don't expect any posts from me over the next week, give or take a couple days. Between my crappy computer situation and finals, I doubt anything I write would make much sense, especially with no pictures.

But just as a teaser, I cast on Tuesday night for a new sock, my first time using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock yarn. Ooh the possibilities...

Cashmere and lots of coffee,
Lulu the Sock Knitter

Lulu Tries Some Technology

Normally I consider myself a rather tech-savvy person. I know a decent amount of HTML and CSS, and I even know what they stand for (hyper text markup language and cascading style sheets, respectively). Clearly I've been able to maintain this blog for the last two years on various different computers. I've helped both my parents with various computer problems over the years but still know when I'm over my head and need to call a professional. I can even type nearly 120 words a minute when I get on a roll.

But can Lulu figure out Windows Live Writer or Windows Live Photo Gallery? No.

After hearing good things about Windows Live Writer on a blogging group on Ravelry, I downloaded the program, even opting for the Photo Gallery program at the same time. For a long time I've wanted to get more creative with this blog, change my photos and my layouts some, actually be able to edit my pictures so they look really good. Once the programs were downloaded, I excitedly started composing a post with pictures even. Over the next couple days, I attempted to publish that post to this blog.

FAIL.

After some Googling, I think it might just be a program glitch that I constantly get the same error message every time I try to publish a post with pictures. I'm hoping that is what the problem really is, because otherwise I might feel just a tad dumb.

And as for the Windows Live Photo Gallery... I have no idea where to begin really! I want to be able to crop my photos, even add words or captions onto the image, make collages for the blog when I have a photo-heavy post planned. I was able to crop a picture earlier but when I tried to save it as a new file, it wouldn't let me; I got yet another error message of doom. The funniest thing about all of this is that it saved the original picture under the new file name. Oh what did I do?

If anybody has any suggestions or feedback for me on all of this, send it my way. Are there better programs out there to edit pictures? I've heard amazing things about Paint Shop Pro, but even that is not only expensive but intimidating. How do I get my feet wet in this vast world of graphic design?

And the cherry on top of this craptastic sundae: my laptop is wigging out! Sometime after Thursday, probably over the weekend, the battery stopped charging. While I still have 25% battery life left, I have to keep sweet Elphie plugged in so I don't risk losing any of my work (and at this point in the semester, that would kill me). I'm pretty sure the battery is A-OK and the problem is with the AC adapter power cord thingie. Then last night I tried to import some CDs into iTunes and my computer didn't even recognize that there was a disc in the drive! I tried multiple CDs, cleaned both the discs and the drive, but no luck. So this afternoon I have to hike up to the UC (University Center, which is like our student union) to the computer store and make them fix this.

On a more positive note, I finally caved and joined Twitter. You can read my tweets at Twitter.com/craftylulu. Until today, I didn't realize that Melanie or my sister Twittered, so now I have a new way to keep in touch with them. I have a feeling this Twitter thing is going to become a new addiction, at least for the moment.

Wish me luck.

Coffee and Cashmere,
Lulu

Where Did April Go?

Wow! I can't believe tomorrow is the next to last day of April. I can't believe the last two weeks went by so incredibly fast, but I suppose that being busy pretty much every single day with something didn't hurt. Funny how looking back on the last few weeks, everything seemed to have happened so quickly but while it's actually happen, it doesn't feel that fast. Some days even seem to drag on forever.

I haven't really been doing much knitting since I finished my socks. There's some stuff I'd like to do, but (to borrow a phrase from Cameron) I just don't have the bandwith for it right now. I'm supposed to be working on a sample for my hometown LYS, but that's just not happening. More about that in the next post probably.

The UNC Feminist Alliance held our Pro-Choice rally on the 16th and despite rather cold, windy, and generally dreary weather, I think it was quite a success! We organized everything in just under a week. Everybody decorated solid white t-shirts with pro-choice slogans in black lettering. Several girls got together to make some amazing posters! The one I have pictured here is just one of nearly a dozen beautifully crafted signs. We handed out condoms (which came in lots of different colors and kinds!) and pamphlets with lots of good information. Then last week, three of us spoke to our Student Senate about various concerns we have for our campus. Looks like I'm turning out to be quite the activist now! Right now I'm planning to start a scrapbook for the group so future members can look back at how our group was started, what we did, etc. (See how I manage to tie everything to a craft somehow?)

In my last post, I alluded to a date with a special somebody. No, I did not wear my hand-knit socks; in fact, I don't think he's even seen them. The date went fantastically and I look forward to future outings with this man. His mother crochets, so he's quite accustomed to the obsessive fiber habit. It's always nice when the significant other/love interest/whatever he is at least humors my insane craftiness. Doubt I'll be knitting for him any time soon, but he at least has the potential to someday deserve a dishcloth or something small.

As much as I would love to stay and ramble on some more, I must depart to laundry and studying. Finals are next week so there is a great deal to be done.

Coffee and Cashmere,
Lulu

FO: Daffodil Campfire Socks

Pattern: Campfire Socks from Cider Moon
Size: Men's
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Sheppard Sport in Daffodil, less than one skein
Needles: US 3 Clover Bamboo DPN's
Mods: I knit a shorter cuff because I don't like really tall socks!
Started: I cast these on during my Thanksgiving break in November, but didn't start really working on them until this month.
Finished: This morning!
Thoughts: This is my first completed pair of socks and I am soooo proud. I think this pattern is excellent as an introduction to the wide world of sock knitting. The pattern is extremely well written and was easy to follow. I had such a hard time putting these down!

So now the big question is: are handknit socks too much for a first date?

A Million Different Things

This week has been a busy one. Monday I ran around campus going to class, to the health care center, to Academic Advising, to career services, and then finally that night I went to work. Tuesday, I met with my adviser to discuss classes for next year, went to work, went to class, and then bummed around with Kate my RA. Wednesday was class, a nap, dinner with friends, Cold Stone with Courtney, and my first meeting of the UNC's GLBTA club In & Out. Afterwards, I went to Village Inn with the group and stayed up late eating onion rings and talking about a million different things. Thursday I ran around campus hanging with friends and going to meetings, squeezing my macroeconomics class in between.

The meeting I went to Thursday night was for the UNC Feminist Alliance. We talked about different issues affecting women on campus like getting better health care and insurance coverage for female university students, having a pro-choice rally next week, and why is a man considered a stud but a woman is a slut. After the discussion, we joined the College Democrats and made t-shirts with pro-choice slogans. Pictured here is the shirt I made and I'm very excited to wear it!

Now finally, I have photographic evidence of The Finished Sock. In fact, I've even already turned the heel and shaped the gusset of the second sock and now just working on the foot. A lot of people have been very interested in my knitting since I've been taking the socks everywhere. There has even been talk about starting a Stitch'n'Bitch to be sponsored by the UNC Feminist Alliance. The finished sock is pictured here with a Barnes & Noble bag, which holds Easter presents for my little sisters. Oh, that and a couple things for me.

To my Catholic readers, I hope you have a happy Good Friday and a very happy and blessed Easter. Sunday I will hopefully spend with my parents in the Denver area if they can ever tell me what the plan is!